Optically assembled droplet interface bilayer (OptiDIB) networks from cell-sized microdroplets

Mark S Friddin; Guido Bolognesi; Yuval Elani; Nicholas J Brooks; Robert V Law; John M Seddon; Mark A A Neil; Oscar Ces

doi:10.1039/c6sm01357k

Optically assembled droplet interface bilayer (OptiDIB) networks from cell-sized microdroplets

Soft Matter. 2016 Sep 20;12(37):7731-7734. doi: 10.1039/c6sm01357k.

Authors

Mark S Friddin¹, Guido Bolognesi², Yuval Elani¹, Nicholas J Brooks¹, Robert V Law¹, John M Seddon¹, Mark A A Neil³, Oscar Ces¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. o.ces@imperial.ac.uk and Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
² Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK. o.ces@imperial.ac.uk.
³ Institute of Chemical Biology, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK and Photonics Group, Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road South Kensington, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.

PMID: 27722718
DOI: 10.1039/c6sm01357k

Abstract

We report a new platform technology to systematically assemble droplet interface bilayer (DIB) networks in user-defined 3D architectures from cell-sized droplets using optical tweezers. Our OptiDIB platform is the first demonstration of optical trapping to precisely construct 3D DIB networks, paving the way for the development of a new generation of modular bio-systems.